Craving Approval
by Acearra
Summary: [AU] Inuyasha was the typical rebellious teenager. His father though, was not the typical father. He was abusive. Finally sick of his trouble-maker son, Inuyasha's father ships him off to a boarding school for troubled teenagers, where Inuyasha meets another boy named Sesshoumaru.
1. Chapter 1

**INUYASHA** © Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan • Yomiuri TV • Sunrise 2000_  
No money is being made from the creation or viewing of this piece of fanwork, which is strictly for personal, non-commercial recreation, in accordance with the copyright._

* * *

"You rebellious brat!"

Surprise wasn't what Inuyasha felt, it wasn't anger either. No envy or sadness similarly. Nope, nothing. Inuyasha felt nothing when his father said those things. He would never stoop so low as to get angry at the man, he was after all was said and done, his father. Besides that, the man also wanted Inuyasha to be angry at him. He craved the anger the half-demon could give because it meant that he could punish the boy, send him to his room without supper or electronics. Or beat the boy with his belt. That would work as well.

"I know."

Inuyasha turned to stare at the picture of his Ma. He'd barely known the woman before she got sick. She'd been so very sick and he'd been so very young. He could remember when his Pa came home, tears shining on his cheeks, his ears and nose red. Matted white hair hung loose instead of in his father's normally high ponytail. His clothes were soaked thoroughly, as if the Heavens were crying for some reason. Perhaps it had been the same reason his father was crying, the young child had rationalized.

"Leave!"

Inuyasha left. He'd rather be anywhere but there, in that office where his father always degraded him. Where his father would tell him to take off his shirt and kneel. Then there would be searing pain that not even getting run over by a car could match. Cold metal and brown leather would meet scarred skin, scarring it even further.

The half-demon climbed the stairs. He knew better than to turn the TV on when his father was around. He knew better than to play his Xbox as well. If he did, Father would be upset. An upset Father meant the belt and that meant pain. Inuyasha might've been brash and rude in front of peers but his father…

That was an entirely different story. A story he wasn't proud of, one that he hated with all his heart.

Brash, rude, rebellious, class-clown, and un-caring is how his teachers would describe him. To them he was the troublemaker, the one that didn't read the chapters assigned nor do the work-sheet to go along with it and then when asked, flipped the teacher off, told them to fuck off and mind their own business.

With his father, he was quiet and submissive. He didn't argue back, didn't tell him to mind his own business, didn't ask question, and didn't, on any level or any form, rebel. His physical health mattered a lot, unlike the offensive rumors about him having multiple strains of sexually transmitted diseases wanted you to believe.

That was another thing his father didn't know and wouldn't ever know while Inuyasha lived in his house. The half-demon was gay.

Bullying really hadn't even been that much of problem and the small wisps of it that Inuyasha had suffered from paled in comparison to his father's actions. Father would beat him, kids would tease him. They weren't on the same scale at all. Words could hurt a lot, if they were uttered from the mouth of someone you cared about and wanted the approval of. Beatings hurt more from those that you yearned to be accepted by. Although Inuyasha would publicly deny craving his father's support, inside he recognized that sought it.

With a soft click, Inuyasha's door shut behind him and he locked. Right now, he'd rather not have his father come into his room. Inuyasha wanted to use the laptop the local monk had provided him when he'd gotten lost while drunk. Long story short, Inuyasha hadn't been able to hold more than just his liquor. Days later, father was out of town and a friendly monk was waiting at his door with a used laptop and device that allowed a person to hook up to phone networks in the area. Now if he wanted porn he didn't have to go through all of his father's hetero stuff in the basement.

Inuyasha quickly logged in and went to a site he'd found a long time ago. The place allowed gays to meet up via webcam with other gays. It was sweet in his opinion, and it let him vent his anger to others who actually gave a fuck about how he felt. He clicked the 'begin chatting' button and the browser quickly loaded the first person of the evening.

Cold gold eyes bore right back at him. It was the most striking thing in the video. Almost all the lights were off in the room, the only light being the computer monitor. It showed him not only gold eyes, but silver-white hair, and perhaps the outline of markings. Inuyasha could admit that the man was damn hot.

"Yo," Inuyasha said quietly. He saw the eyebrows of the other man momentarily flick up in challenge… or disgust.

"Hello, half-breed," the other man said in a tone that clearly said he was utterly disgusted with Inuyasha. Well, this started off just wonderful. Too bad neither of them were allowed to switch partners for five minutes, well, too bad for beauty queen on the other side of the screen. Inuyasha snickered.

"You will decease this snickering at once."

"And you will take the stick out of your ass."

Inuyasha snickered more, trying his best to keep it quiet so that his demon lord father didn't pick it up. The other man's lips drew back into a snarl. Wow, this guy was pissed.

For the next few minutes insults and jabs were thrown at each other over the internet. The timer had reached 4:21 when the other man's cell phone rang. The screen went black, allowing Inuyasha to know that he'd closed out of the window.

Well, it wasn't every day you got to insult random strangers over the internet.

* * *

Ishiro fumed as he talked with the headmaster of Spring Healing Academy, discussing the possibility of sending his troublesome son there. It happened quickly, the headmaster was filling out papers for him and then some idiot barged in saying that someone was using the internet to chat with some person. It was strictly forbidden, doing things of that nature there. It would be a perfect place for his son, having so many rules and expectations placed on him. Like this kid, he'd break them in the beginning but as things progressed, he'd get used to them and grow up to be a much better man. He'd have good skills and a wonderful college application. And to top it off, Ishiro wouldn't always shave a constant remembrance of his late wife.

Over the phone he heard the man who'd reported it scamper off, most likely to find the boy. The head master returned to the converstation though, and that was all that mattered to Ishiro.

* * *

The two males awkwardly ate dinner in silence. Ishiro was looking for the perfect way to break to his son that he was extremely displeased with his rebellious behavior and would be sending him off to Spring Healing Academy. Inuyasha was replaying the odd conversation with the man he didn't even know the name of. The man who'd called him every name in the book, insulted every possible thing he could about the half-demon, and not even break a sweat.

"Inuyasha, I'm highly disappointed in your behavior. You lie, don't care about teachers or other people you disrespect people, abandon others, step on them to get what you want, and get into fights. Inuyasha, I will be sending you to an academy that focuses on kids who have problems like your own." The teenager who'd been shoveling down carrots and peas stopped, a single pea rolling off his spoon and onto the plate. Ishiro dipped a spoon into his mashed potatoes and brought it up to his mouth in a polite manner. "Inuyasha, I believe this is for the best. I've tr—"

"Bullshit! You're the one with problems, ol' man!" Inuyasha yelled, forgetting that his father was only riling him up so that he could beat him. He forgot how awful his father was, resulting to all those things he had said Inuyasha did, and stood up, accusing finger pointed straight at the forty-eight year old man who indifferently watched Inuyasha. "You're the one that whipped me with your belt! You're the one who doesn't allow me talk about mom! You're the one that lies about how you treat me! You're the one that talks down to me just so you can feel all fucking superior. Guess what ol' man; I _hate_ you! I want you to fucking leave me alone!"

Inuyasha's breathing came out hitched and harsh. His teeth were gritted and his eyes blazed with fury. Ishiro watched him calmly.

"Go to your room. Your flight departs in two days."

"Bastard!"

* * *

Inuyasha flung himself at his bed, narrowly missing the laptop from the monk. He wanted to vent so badly that he didn't even care to notice who was the person on the other side of the screen as he ranted about his father. He lost himself in the anger, not noticing when tears rolled down his cheeks and onto the laptop. The anger consumed him so heavily that he didn't notice the female joining the male on the other side of the screen.

And when all was said and done, the male from earlier spoke in his cold regal tone.

"Half-breed, do you want my sympathy?"

Inuyasha's head shot up to see the man from earlier in the dark room. A curious female had also joined the picture and looked at him with sympathy… or pity. The question the stranger asked wrapped around his brain, forcing him to think why he was there.

"Of course he wants sympathy," the female said in a bright, girly voice. "Why else would he tell you, a complete stranger?" Her eyes darted to the other man, then back to Inuyasha.

"Sorry about him, he can be rather rude at times. Ignore him, I'm all ears."

Inuyasha didn't want sympathy though. The girl was wrong, the other man was right. He could spill his guts to the girl, she seemed perfectly willing to listen, or he could answer the bored man's question.

"No, I don't want your sympathy."

"Then what do you seek to gain?"

Again, Inuyasha found himself letting the other man's question dig into his brain, inserting itself into his stream of consciousness. The girl watched him with doe eyes, waiting to see what his answer would be. This should've been awkward to Inuyasha but it wasn't. It was completely normal to him for some reason beyond his explanation.

"I want your approval."

That was the answer that had presented itself to the half-demon. It made sense, the yearning for his father's approval could never be reached but a stranger's was easily attainable.

"Then I won't give it to you."


	2. Chapter 2

Inuyasha had managed to delude himself while in his two days before boarding the plane that was currently whisking him away to whatever-deity-knows-where academy that he would be able to escape. Of course, he finally snapped himself out of this little fantasy by the time the plane started rolling down the runway. The hanyou wanted to smack himself for actually believing that his father wouldn't do everything in his power to make sure that he got on the plane and didn't get wasn't his normal prowess but currently it seemed to be that way.

Sighing, the youth looked down at the brochure that his father had given him on the academy he would spend the rest of his adolescent days wasting away in.

_Spring Healing Academy_

_So far, over ten thousand troubled kids have graduated from out program and the majority of them have become key parts of our society. Politicians, doctors, lawyers, judges, soldiers, and so forth._

No wonder this was where he was headed. He had never been able to convince his father of anything, including his innocence in a lot of things. He always claimed that the boy had problems with lying and trusted the teachers, staff, and even other dick-head kids about his actions. Just another thing to piss the hanyou off about.

Inuyasha groaned, opening the brochure to the next page. It went on to explain all these god-awful systems, structures, and programs that they provided the children. It talked about how it had helped dyslexic kids, kids with anger issues, mental disabilities, chronic lying, physical disabilities and all that other bull-crap that they 'helped' with, or more like traumatized kids over.

"You going too?" said the kid next to him that was wringing his hands. The other boy had bags under his eyes, along with a black eye. His clothes hung loosely from his form as if he was malnourished. His eyes darted to Inuyasha then back to the aisle way and back to Inuyasha again. He just screamed paranoia.

"Yeah, I am," Inuyasha said defensively. He knew that there was no reason to be so harsh on the youngster but this way of acting was so ingrained into his system that he couldn't change it even if he wanted to.

"C-Can I see it?" The boy motioned to the pamphlet in his hands. The kid's hands were pale and bony, like a skeleton's.

"What's your name?"

"Jamel Dalton. We moved from San Francisco last October because all the kids picked on me. Yours?" Inuyasha handed Jamel the booklet, taking in once more the pale, bony hands, malnourished form, red, messy hair, pale greenish eyes, the nose that had obviously been broken at some point or another, and the sunken features. Damn, the kid looked like a poster boy for all those 'stop bullying, save lives' posters.

"Inuyasha Oharu." Most Japanese kids he'd met that had moved to America had changed their names to match the culture but Ishiro had said that he'd never change the one thing that identifies a man for anyone's convenience. He'd grown up with a father that hated nick-names and everything else that could change a name.

"Oh wow!" The boy's green-grey eyes shone with delight at his name. Inuyasha was taken aback by it. What was so special? Jamel must've seen Inuyasha's arched eyebrow and confused look because the kid decided to explain.

"Well it's just that you're Japanese and all and you kept your name. I-I've known other Japanese kids," Jamel's eyes darted away, "And they had all changed their name to names like mine. One kid's name in Japan had been Hoshiru and his name here was Harry. Another girl was named Mutsuko in Japan but here she was Cherry." Jamel made a face and gave a small gagging sound. "It's just really cool that though you l-live in A-America, you kept your real name."

Inuyasha nodded, averting his eyes. The kid didn't seem to mind though, paying closer attention to the leaflet. Inuyasha sighed, looking out the window to the dry desert below.

* * *

He must've fallen asleep. He had to have fallen asleep if he knew anything about his reoccurring dreams.

Young Inuyasha's small hands touched the pumpkin-gut orange walls, looking through the area right below where the stair railing met the wall. It gave him a perfect vantage point to the living room where his father was sitting on the couch, his hands holding his head. Inuyasha was about to say something when his father's phone rang. The little boy listened closely to his father's words.

"Yes Kakiko, I know you want to see your boy but I will not allow you anywhere near him! I sent him away because of the many times you tried to contact us."

Inuyasha could smell his father's anger as he listened to Kakiko reply to him.

"Kakiko, are you high?! Wait, I would be surprised if you weren't. I remember how much debt you put us through just because you couldn't get enough drugs! Why the hell do you think I'd tell you where our boy is?!"

A pause ensued, leaving Inuyasha to wonder who Kakiko was. His mother's name was Izayoi.

"Fuck it Kakiko, you're never seeing our son again. Don't call again!" His father frustratedly clicked the end button and slammed the phone shut. Little Inuyasha worriedly eyed his father and then his bedroom door. Would Papa hurt him?

Inuyasha was in bed in seconds. His Thomas the Train covers were pulled up past his head and he was trying to calm his breathing and racing heartbeat. Papa was going to catch him and that was it, another beating to go along with the other one. Oh Ma, why couldn't you be there anymore?

* * *

Inuyasha awoke with sweat dribbles running down his cheeks. His eyes flicked to the window, his breath coming out in short gasps. Where was he? That was right; he was on a plane, flying to some probably god-awful school. Then he remembered Jamel on his other side. He peered at the boy. He was asleep, but it seemed to be a fitful sleep.

The women roamed the aisle, asking those awake if there were problems and helping if there were. Every time one passed them, he closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. He got good at doing this a long time ago when his father would come and check on him in the evenings. His father would get angry with the boy if he were still awake. Inuyasha had had a bad case of Insomnia throughout life. The flight attendants didn't seem to realize the state of consciousness of their hanyou passenger.

"Huh?" Jamel said groggily. A flight attendant who was painting her nails in the seat across from them looked up at the red-head boy.

"You okay?" Her face was glazed over in fake worry, something Inuyasha hated with a passion. People always faked what they felt around him, thinking he didn't know any better. Well they were wrong, he did know better.

"Y-Yeah."

"Get some sleep then kid." She set the nail polish bottle on the tray, her toes bright, neon pink. They matched the color of her lips. He noticed how she carefully avoided touching her also neon pink fingernails to her black hair as she flipped it over her shoulder. She had an obviously fake tan, giving her an air of fakeness. The gray uniform she wore didn't match her at all. It looked dull in the face of her fake brightness.

"That's okay; I'm not really that tired."

She sighed, rolling her eyes as she slipped her feet into the black heels that completed her outfit. "Fine then. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"S-Some water please."

Inuyasha decided to pipe up at that moment, asking for a coke. The flight attendant, Kaylee as her name tag read, placed her hand to her heart, pretending to have been scared by him.

"You scared me hon' but of course, my duty is to serve."

"Did I wake you?" Inuyasha said quietly. He was pretty certain that he'd bumped the poor boy but he wouldn't feel guilty about it unless Jamel confirmed it.

"Probably but I'm glad you did, I get bad dreams a lot. How about you? Who woke you?"

"I have insomnia."

Jamel said nothing, just patted his arm twice before staring out into the aisle. Soon Kaylee returned with their drinks. The plane was silent but it was a good silence.

* * *

Inuyasha gripped the arms of the seat tightly as the plane was attempting to land. It was a very rough landing, that was for sure, and it was making the normally surely hanyou want to puke. He was doing his best not to puke all over Jamel, seeing as the boy was already fretting, wringing his hands, and darting his eyes.

They grabbed their bags from the overhanging bins once the plane landed. The flight attendants made sure that everyone got what they needed and ushered them out. Kaylee winked at them, helping Jamel get his bag down. They walked through the odd tunnel that connected the plane to the building. Jamel stiffly walked behind him.

"Hey Inuyasha, what do you think it's gonna be like?"

"Probably hell."

They found a lady in a pin-stripe suit. Her grey hair was pulled back into a bun, no hairs escaping it. She frowned at them, her blue eyes taking them both in, her frown deepening. In comparison to her business like air, their Converse, baggy and ripped jeans, short-sleeve shirts and hoodies made it obvious that their priorities weren't the same as hers. She shook her head and led them to the luggage pick-up. Once they were done there, she led them to her car. It was a black mini-van, nice but it didn't really match her uptight persona. Gave off the air of soccer mom, not business woman who didn't give a shit about children.

"So, uh, what's your name?" Inuyasha finally spoke up. Jamel was quiet, watching the world passing them by in the car.

"Sally Hargings but you will refer to me as Mrs. Hargings."

"Well, Mrs. Hargings, what's so great about your stupid school?"

"We have done many great things, Mr. Oharu. Did you read the pamphlet?"

"Yeah…"

"Mr. Inuyasha, if you have read the pamphlet, why are you asking me these questions?" she asked, looking at him through the mirror, her frown as deep as it was when she first laid eyes on them. For an amused moment, Inuyasha wondered if the frown was a permanent fixture on the uptight woman's face. The though passed quickly, and Inuyasha turned to look out the window again. The question was rhetorical; he wasn't that big an idiot.

The greens, grays, and browns blurred by. They passed suburban areas, clusters of uniform houses of greens, blues, and creams. The passed shopping malls and schools, multiple churches, one bright orange Buddhist temple, and even a shooting range. Inuyasha tried to keep his eyes on the shooting range as long as possible, even craning in his seat to look at it out the back window.

One of his most favorite memories happened to be in a shooting range. He and his first boyfriend, a gangly boy with blond hair, prominent cheekbones, and a stature of six feet, four inches had gone to one on perhaps the best date Inuyasha had ever been on. The boyfriend's name had been Alden Lowe. The relationship had been cut off when Alden had been jailed for bank robbery. Yeah, when Ishiro had found out that Inuyasha had been hanging around boys like Alden (though of course he didn't know of the romantic and sexual entanglements between the boys), the belt beating had lasted more than thirty minutes and he had been unable to go to school the next few days.

Inuyasha smiled at the memories wryly, before returning to gazing at the passing scenery. The landscape had changed. No longer were there McDonald's and Starbucks around every corner, and a high school or two with a gaggle of students loitering out front dotted around. It was rural now. The highway was mostly empty. Wooden fences neighbored the road, closing in pastures of green where cows munched lazily and sheep baaed to one another. Farms peppered the background. If that wasn't a sign that the Spring Healing Academy was far from society, then he didn't know what was.

Settling back in his seat, Inuyasha sighed and resigned himself to fate, or rather, hell on earth.

* * *

"Sesshoumaru!" called a bell-like female voice. The man in question turned his head, stop in the doorway to the outside to see who was calling to him. Of course, it was Rin.

Rin was a year younger than him, but was quite clever. She had skipped a grade, which made her the same grade as him. It was a miracle one might say, as the girl herself was at Spring Healing Academy because she suffered from dyslexia and the adoption system in America didn't want to deal with her because of it.

She caught up to him, tilting her head to smile at him as she held her binder under one arm and smoothed down the wrinkles in her plaid, uniform skirt. Shaking his head at the charming female, Sesshoumaru continued walking, the girl trailing close behind him.

"So I hear Mrs. Hargings is going to pick up the new students today." She said, bouncing along beside him. A few of the students the passed them to head in the opposite direction cast second glances at them, and so would some of the students idling about in the quad. He knew what they thought of Rin and him; that they were an item. All he had to say to that was hell no. Rin was like a sister to him, she'd always been there. Hell would have to freeze over and pigs would have to naturally develop wings before he could feel the slightest tingle of arousal from seeing her naked.

"That affects me how?" he asked, returning some of the suspicious glances other pupils directed their way. Rin was somehow impervious to the stares. Whether she noticed them and simply didn't care one ounce, or was completely naïve to them, he knew not. Sesshoumaru knew though that they made him uncomfortable. Come on people, he was gay!

Rin sighed beside him, running her hand through her black hair as she rolled her eyes at him. "Remember the boy you talked to on that website? He said his father was shipping him off to here two days from when we talked to him. That would mean he's going to be coming today."

He sighed, taking his eyes off one of the other students to look down at Rin. His gaze was disapproving. "Let me repeat myself," he said, stopping, and holding onto her forearm as he faced her. "That matters to me how? I talked to him twice, spent nearly five minutes insulting him, and only know that he's got daddy issues. This affects me how?"

Rin put her hands on her hips, returning the disapproving glare. "Because! You're the only person beside whoever else is coming here that he has any history with. You need to be kind."

"I'm not kind."

She sighed a long-suffering sigh again, pressing her lips into a thin line as she raised an eyebrow as if to ask if he was serious. "Look, I'm not asking you to be some sassy gay friend, I've known you long enough to know that you don't have a bone in your body like that, but be at least civil to him. I know I'm going to befriend. Everyone needs a friend."

Sesshoumaru raised his hand up to massage his temple as he rotated away from Rin and continued walking. Rin quirked her lips, pinching her nose as she hurried to catch up with her best friend. Sometimes, Sesshoumaru was an ass.


End file.
